Square Enix will hold a Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exhibition, dubbed the “Farewell Stories Exhibition,” at the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo from January 22 to February 28, which will feature a special Final Fantasy VII exhibition that includes never before seen image boards of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

The Farewell Stories Exhibition will also feature various other exhibitions that recreate a number of the “farewell stories” depicted in the Final Fantasy series. Square Enix also developed an augmented reality audio system for the exhibition, which links your smartphone with the 150 beacons installed at the venue for the items on display. Doing this will enable you to hear synchronized game background music, character voices, and personalized navigation from the headphones installed at each exhibit by simply standing in front of the beacon.

During a massive New Year group interview published on the Japanese magazine Weekly Famitsu, Final Fantasy VII Remake Producer Yoshinori Kitase gave a small update on the title.

Kitase-san mentioned that the game’s development is going well. Asked his goal for 2018, he explained that about the remake he’d like to work on “comfort,” also playing on words by mentioning that on a personal level hopes to take it easy (using the same word, “raku” which means “ease” or “comfort”) if possible.

Additionally, Final Fantasy Brand Manager Shinji Hashimoto, also pointed out that this year he is looking forward to E3, and that his goal is to increase the excitement for each game in development among the fans. Keep in mind that he did not specifically talk about the Final Fantasy VII Remake, so interpret it as you will.

We haven’t heard much lately about the game, besides a small update last summer by Tetsuya Nomura, and a few comments on how he works on it and on Kingdom Hearts III at the same time. Back in May, Square Enix brought the development back in-house, after having worked with Cyberconnect2 at the beginning of the project.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake has been officially announced only for PS4 at the moment and does not have a release window.

Wondering how development for Final Fantasy VII Remake is going? Good, I hope! While we wait to hear how things are progressing, know that Square Enix is hiring for the remake.

A Japanese job listing put out a call for “core member” (コアメンバー) recruits, looking for those with game planner experience and especially those with level design and Unreal Engine 4 skills. The monthly salary starts at 300,000 yen ($2,817) and the gig is in Tokyo.

The job listing site is in Japanese, so it’s unclear how non-Japanese speakers or those outside the country can apply.

Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced in 2015. Previously, it was being developed at CyberConnect but is now being handled by Square Enix. I look forward to playing it in 2025.

Square Enix published a new career opportunity ad seeking a Battle Planner for the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake.

The job says a lot about the way the team at Business Division 1 (that is also working on Mobius Final Fantasy) is tackling development, alongside some interesting information.

First of all, we learn that the team is aiming at a “new creation” that isn’t just a simple remake, and the project is in full-scale development to create “a game that exceeds the original” Final Fantasy VII.

This is, according to the ad, “in a sense more challenging than creating new games” and it’s a job that has an impact on the world as well as one’s growth as a creator. It involves “creating a new worldview while protecting concepts familiar to the players.”

Since the team is working with the goal of “creating a game with quality that exceeds the original” they’re still recruiting internal development staff.

As a relevant personal note here, I’ve seen articles and videos in the past alleging that development must be behind schedule or just started because Square Enix is still hiring core staff members, but that is a pretty ignorant conclusion. It’s entirely normal across the gaming industry for development teams working on big projects to hire lead-level or even occasionally director-level developers as far as the last few months of development. The closer you get to release, the larger the workload becomes, the more staff you need, alongside leads to direct them.

Incidentally, the job involves working on a battle system that combines commands and action, designing enemies and bosses, and planning the environment according to the player’s growth. The game will be “A new Final Fantasy with action elements added to traditional strategy”.

We also learn that “staff members that worked on numbered Final Fantasy games have been joining the team one after the other” and doing so is “an opportunity to create a new Final Fantasy that won’t end with just the remake.” This is likely to mean that the candidate that will get the job will have the chance to transition to new Final Fantasy games after the remake is released.

Last, but not least, we get a testimonial from Level Planners Yui Sawada and Yuri Hioki that are already working on the game. They mention that it’s a real pleasure to work on the title as a planner, consistently engaging at all levels of development from concept to implementation, and it’s interesting to be so deeply involved while in charge of content, and even of regular work like text correction, which is why they feel like creators. In particular, the Final Fantasy VII remake is a project that gathered developers who have been influenced by the original and is a result of joining everyone’s “hot passion.” Of course, there is the pressure of having to exceed a masterpiece, and that is very enjoyable. While valuing the view of the world that the users have, they aim to revolutionize preconceived notions. With the feeling of creating a completely new game, they’d like to release a title that makes you say “that’s it!”

Square Enix has kept the project almost completely under wraps after its announcement. A few weeks ago we saw a few pieces of concept artwork and we read that development going well. Previously, we received a small update last summer by Tetsuya Nomura, and a few comments on how he manages to work on it and on Kingdom Hearts III at the same time. Back in May 2017, Square Enix brought the development back in-house, after a stint during which Cyberconnect2 worked on the early stages of the project.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake has been officially announced only for PS4 and for the moment does not have a release window. Despite that, Amazon is already offering pre-orders.

Takai-san gives an interesting answer when asked what he wants to change in the remake compared to the original in terms of his field, which is visual effects. He mentioned that when working on the original Final Fantasy VII, he did not put as much thought into the effects as he does now. For instance, there might have been an enemy emitted red flames while attacking even if it did not make much sense, just because it looked cool. Now, if an enemy emits red flames, it’s due to its nature, the weapons it uses, its energy source, and so forth. In this case, Takai-san also puts more thought into elements like emitted smoke and explosions. Even if it might not be official canon, he creates his own theories and stories about these things, so the effects at the time and those in the remake might not be directly connected.

According to Takai-san it’s not just a matter of improving the graphics. He wants to work while thinking deeper about it. For example, if you recover your energy with “Cure” it shouldn’t just be sparkly particles. He wants to create the effect while thinking “it’s invisible energy drifting around the character when it gathers and is visualized, it’s absorbed by the body and emits light.”

He also explains that Final Fantasy VII has a generational meaning. People who grew up playing a game are gradually playing a more and more relevant role as they become developers of the Final Fantasy VII Remake. Takai-san wants them to create a new form for Final Fantasy VII. His role is to determine the direction of the art, and he wants to create an environment where young developers can play an active role. That being said, even if he says “young,” the average age is about thirty years old.

Asked how important is the knowledge of the original game to work within the team, he mentioned that developers don’t need to know that much, so potential applicants shouldn’t be worried about that. That’s something mostly Producer Yoshinori Kitase and Director Tetsuya Nomura provide guidance on. Those who have a good mastery of graphics with the quality level of international AAA games will be a welcome addition to the team.

There are designers in the visual effects team that have never played the original game, even if they know broad elements like the characters’ names and the story. What matters most is their skill and sense, alongside their motivation. Although the core of the development of the Final Fantasy VII Remake is already solidified, since the VFX team is responsible for improving the quality during the final phase of production, there is still room for success for new applicants.